i believe the sr71 has and does go alot faster than 3.5mach.

3.5mach is its declassified speed, the plane and engines are well designed and suited to reach speeds in excess of mach 4 and even to possible 6+, if you ask i will explain its design.

also the ram engine is the only engine in the world to get better gas milleage the faster it goes, how does it do this well the faster it goes, the better job its cones do of compressing the air and at certain speeds and times the compressed air will ignite itself leaving fuel out of the equation becuz the compression and heat become its fuel....but the total fuel and energy to make this a cold fusion engine do not exist as of now in limits of design and function...

anyhow the x-15 is the fastest plane, probably used more than once and probably modified and a black op plane, where the sr71 took credit for some of its work who knows, maybe the sr71 is put out there to take heat off other planes doing black ops....

just a thought the sr71 is one of the first true stealth aircraft.

In his book, "Sled Driver", SR-71 Blackbird pilot Brian Shul writes: "I'll always remember a certain radio exchange that occurred one day as Walt(my back-seater) and I were screaming across Southern California 13 miles high.We were monitoring various radio transmissions from other aircraft as we entered Los Angeles airspace. Though they didn't really control us, they did monitor our movement across their scope. I heard a Cessna ask for a readout of its ground speed."90 knots" Center replied. Moments later, a Twin Beech required the same. "120 knots," Center answered. We weren't the only ones proud of our ground speed that day as almost instantly an F-18 smugly transmitted, "Ah, Center, Dusty 52 requests ground speed readout." There was a slight pause, then the response, "525 knots on the ground,Dusty." Another silent pause. As I was thinking to myself how ripe a situation this was, I heard a familiar click of a radio transmission
coming from my back-seater.
It was at that precise moment I realized Walt and I had become a real crew, for we were both thinking in unison. "Center, Aspen 20, you got a ground speed readout for us?" There was a longer than normal pause .... "Aspen, I show 1,742 knots"
No further inquiries were heard on that frequency.


In another famous SR-71 story, Los Angeles Center reported receiving a request for clearance to FL 60 (60,000ft). The incredulous controller, with some disdain in his voice, asked, "How do you plan to get up to 60,000 feet?
The pilot (obviously a sled driver), responded,"We don't plan to go up to it, we plan to go down to it." He was cleared.

Originally posted by nwscc
In another famous SR-71 story, Los Angeles Center reported receiving a request for clearance to FL 60 (60,000ft). The incredulous controller, with some disdain in his voice, asked, "How do you plan to get up to 60,000 feet?
The pilot (obviously a sled driver), responded,"We don't plan to go up to it, we plan to go down to it." He was cleared.

hehe, not THAT's funny

Ok I don't buy the La Center story. I have worked the SR-71 many times and never had one tell me their real altitude once they got above FL 600. Also they aircraft is UHF only with ATC anyway so no other civil aircraft woud hear a response. The SR's , U2's anf now the globalhawks all use ultra high frequecies with the centers. These are just for high flyers so they don't have to switch freqs so often. As to the speed readout Center Radar display only show speeds to 999.

JMHO

[Edited on 27-1-2004 by huskers]

I used to have a book of the world's greatest aircraft and it had some statistics not yet mentioned in this forum.
The SR-71 not only held the record for altitude, but also a "sustained altitude" of 80,000+ feet. Many planes can "zoom" to higher altitudes but are unable to stay there. Also, it held the record not only for speed, but again for "sustained speed" of 2200+ mph. Again.. some planes can "zoom" to this speed but are unable to maintain it. Something to think about... And one more thing: the SR-71 still wins in the "looks" category compared to the funky "x" planes' shapes.

-C

Originally posted by huskers
never had one tell me their real altitude once they got above FL 600

JMHO

[Edited on 27-1-2004 by huskers]

FL600 would be 600,000 feet FL60 would be 60,000

there's a saying with airline pilots. "don't trust anyone over 30" they don't mean age they mean 30,000 feet

The top speed of the SR-71 is more like Mach 5 or higher. Brian Schull did a pass over Libya in 1986 at Mach 5.2 I think it was. I haven't read the book in a long time, but I remember that it was close to Mach 5. The reason the speed record is 3.2 is the same reason that the top speed of an aircraft carrier is 30+ knots. The USAF doesn't want the capabilities of the aircraft known. As far as stealth goes, the SR-71 did have some stealth characteristics, such as lead in the leading edges, and special paint, however it was not a true stealth aircraft. It was a sad day when they retired this aircraft.

The X-15 I think was the fastest manned aircraft it went mach 6.5, although it had a rocket motor it still holds the record.
Now I have a question does the space shuttle count? It can sustain speeds around Mach 18 or higher.

The space shuttle doesn't count because the only time it's powered is on take off when it has rocket assist. It has to be a powered manned aircraft. Interesting note about the X-15 is that the piots all earned astronaut wings, because after launch they would climb to an altitude that was considered the lower end of orbit until they ran out of fuel.

So what on earth is an X43(umanned)

Cos thats at the top of the link(provided in the second post)
Mach 9.8 ??

The fastest JET plane is the Sr-71 "Blackbird" with a spped of mach 3+ (2,193 mph) The fastest ROCKET plane is the X-15 with a speed of 4,520 mph... however we don't know if the "Aurora" exists and what it top-speed would be...

The Space Shuttle - Mach 22 or 23

X-43A - Mach 9.8

Except the space shuttle doesn't qualify for the fastest plane competition, neither does the X-43. Neither of them is a powered manned aircraft.

Yep, this is an "aircraft only" discussion...

FIN i assume u mean powered man aircraft. aircraft is a huge catigory

Originally posted by Figher Master FIN
Yep, this is an "aircraft only" discussion...

The title of this thread is "Fastest Aircraft in the World" not "Fastest Powered Manned Aircraft in the World".

[edit on 20-6-2005 by NWguy83]